The Drake Passage played an important part in the trade of the 19th and early 20th centuries befo.... water c)

Drake did not sail through the passage but passed instead through the Straits of Magellan to the north of Tierra del Fuego, although he was blown back into the northern latitudes of the passage by a Pacific storm. The winds over the Drake Passage are predominantly from the west and are most intense in the northern half. The mean annual air temperature ranges from 41 F (5 C) in the north to 27 F (3 C) in the south. Surface water temperature varies from near 43 F (6 C) in the north to 30 F (1 C) in the south, with the temperature altering sharply in a zone near 60 S. This transitional zone is known as the ; it separates the sub-Antarctic surface water from the colder and fresher Antarctic surface water. The water within the passage flows from the Pacific into the Atlantic, except for a small amount of water in the south that comes from the Scotia Sea. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which is slightly accelerated by the passage, is strongest in the vicinity of the Antarcti! c Convergence. There is a relatively high abundance of plankton in the Drake Passage.